Call Me Maybe. Wonkagenda For Mon., July 1, 2019

Morning Wonketariat! Here's some of the things we may be talking about today.

Not content with fondling Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Trump spent the G20 letting the rest of the world know that he thinks murderous autocrats are the best people. On Saturday, Trump praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and blatantly ignored reporters' questions about the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying, "I can't comment on the intelligence community. I guess I'm allowed to declassify ... but the truth is I don't want to talk about intelligence." The very stable genius then shitposted an invitation to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and the two met at the at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea where Trump then briefly crossed into North Korea.

The New York Times writes that Trump's field trip to North Korea shows the administration is willing to concede to North Korean demands about its nuclear program in order to give Trump something to brag about next year, though national security war machine John Bolton rage tweeted that this not true, and someone should face "consequences" for attempting to "box in the president."

The entire North Korean sideshow has been a debacle, as newly minted White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham got bumped and bruised by a North Korean security detail. The North Koreans were trying to keep a gaggle of reporters and photogs from getting into a room where Trump and Kim were meeting, but they ended up manhandling Grisham and showing how embarrassingly incompetent and ill prepared the administration is for just about everything.

Immigrant communities are seeing a dramatic decline in abuse reporting thanks to a fear of being kidnapped by storm troopers if they come forward. While some local jurisdictions have orders barring local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, many areas have seen federal officials simply arresting undocumented immigrants during routine court proceedings.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow doesn't understand the economic policies being touted by Democratic presidential candidates because he's not a real economist.

A new Morning Consult poll shows Kamala Harris surging to a third place tie with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Both candidates sit at 12 percent. Harris's six point bump following last week's debates seems to be largely attributed to Joe Biden dropping five points. On Friday the New York Times reported that Republicans are desperate to paint Harris as a socialist Kenyan Killary Clinton after Biden wolfed down his own foot (again). [Poll]

South Bend Mayor and 2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg hauled in $24.8 million in the second quarter. Butters is currently sitting pretty behind Warren and Harris in the latest polls.

The Trump campaign is at least attempting to make it look like they won't try and cheat in the 2020 elections with a push to register evangelical voters. The RNC is also attempting to con Bible-thumping loudmouths with a program called "signature Trump Victory Leadership Institute training" that creates "Faith Captains" who will do the dirty work of registering other gullible jackoffs in swing states like Ohio, Nevada, and Florida.

Patrick Mauldin, a goon in Trump World, has been creating fake campaign websites for Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Sen. Kamala Harris in an attempt to spread shitty memes and misinformation about 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. It's just like what the Russians did in 2016, except the operation is now being run, as its creator says, "BY an American FOR Americans."

Axios gossips Sarah Huckabee Sanders is writing a book about working in the Trump administration. There's no word on how much she's paying her ghost writer, or whether it'll have those little pop-up tabs, but she is expected to hitchhike across #Murica on a book tour ahead of a rumored run for Arkansas governor. #ShesRunning.

Protests in Hong Kong got violent today after people tossed aside metal fencing and attempted to break into the Legislative Council building. As this was on the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from British rule to China, officials called off the ceremony, citing "inclement weather," while police warned people of a "safety threat." The situation is on-going. [Live Updates]

The Washington Post has a 'splainery profile on Joseph Mifsud, the missing Maltese professor who kicked off the entire Trump-Russia scandal in 2016. It's worth a read once you get past half-drunk arglebargle from Rudy Giuliani and Devin Nunes, doing a pretty good job of laying out how Mifsud is/was likely Russian plant.

With the death of net neutrality, piece of shit FCC chair Ajit Pai has allowed internet companies to hide broadband performance. Under the Obama administration the FCC made internet service providers tell customers basic information about their service so they could make informed decisions about their choice in ISPs, but Pai's "light touch" regulatory approach has allowed providers to hide even the most basic information in miles of legal gibberish and irrelevant technobabble.